ENGINEERING MATERIALS

ASSIGNMENT NO 1

Submitted to: Muhammad Farhan Ahmad

Submitted by: Rameesha Imtiaz

Roll no: 2019-CH-06

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

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 MATERIAL CASE STUDY
MATERIAL: IRIDIUM
Introduction
Iridium is one of the rarest metals in the Earth crust with the atomic number 77 and symbol
Ir. It is a hard, brittle, silver-whitish colored transition metal which is the second densest
naturally occurring metal after osmium. Its density is 22.56 g/cm3 as defined by experimental
X-ray crystallography. It is also the most corrosion-resistant metal, even at temperatures as
high as 2000 °C. Its melting point is 2,410° C and boiling point is 4,527° C.

Stress-Strain Behavior
Stress-Strain Curves:

(a)
Analysis:
From graph it can be seen that by
applying stress on soft material the
elongation is more than by applying on
a hard material. The hard material is also
less ductile and more prone to
reaching fracture point soon. This
means that a hard iridium sample
would be difficult to work with due to
its brittle nature.

(b)
Analysis:

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From graph it can be seen that by initially increasing the temperature, the material does not
elongate but after increasing temperature to a higher degree, there is sudden increase in
elongation until a fracture point is reached then the material deforms. As the temperature
increases, the yield stress on iridium decreases until it becomes constant at 1500°C. The
increase in ductility and decrease in yield stress is due to recrystallisation of iridium.

(c)
Analysis:
From graph it can be seen that at temperature 1300°C, the extension per cm3 is less as
compared to 1950°C. It means that by increasing temperature of iridium, the ductility
increases and smoother curve is observed. As the temperature is increased from 900°C to
1600°C, there is irregularity in the curve of iridium. This is due to the annealing effect of
iridium due to which brittle fractures were observed. From 900°C to 1600°C, the material
becomes more ductile and fracture observed are partly intergranular and partly trans granular.
Above 1600°C, the fractures are entirely intergranular.

Modulus of Elasticity:
An elastic modulus (also known as modulus of elasticity) is a quantity that measures an
object or substance's resistance to being deformed elastically (i.e., non-permanently) when
a stress is applied to it. The elastic modulus of an object is defined as the slope of its stress–
strain curve in the elastic deformation region.
 The Young’s modulus of elasticity of Iridium is 528 GPa.
 The shear modulus of elasticity of Iridium is 210 GPa.
 The bulk modulus of elasticity of Iridium is 320 GPa.

Ultimate Tensile Strength:

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The ultimate tensile strength is the maximum on the engineering stress-strain curve. This
corresponds to the maximum stress that can be sustained by a structure in tension. The
Ultimate tensile strength of Ir is 2000 MPa.

Percent Elongation:

Percent Elongation (the strain at fracture in tension) is a measure of ductility which is

expressed as,

Percentage = ((final gage length – initial gage length)/ initial gage length) x 100

Percent elongation of a specimen of Iridium annealed at 1600°C and cooled at room

temperature was noted to be 5.6%.

Reduction in Area:

Reduction in area is the difference between an original given cross-sectional area of a test
specimen before being subjected to tension and the given area of its smallest cross-section
after rupture at the conclusion of the test, with the original cross-sectional area expressed as a
percentage. At temperature 500°C Percentage reduction in area of Iridium is 12.7% while it
is 80.6% at 1000°C.

Conclusion
Iridium is a corrosion-resistance, hard face-centered cubic material with a high melting point,
high shear modulus and low poison’s ratio. Because of its peculiar behavior and difficulty in
preparation, it is mostly used for formation of platinum alloys which compensate for the
irregular behavior of pure iridium metal. It also has applications in electronic industry,
automotive industry and chemical industry where it is used to coat electrodes in chlor-alkali
process and in catalyst.